Chaucer had a life, which affected his work greatly, and gave him many different topics to write about in his poetry. He had many works, which leave evidence that he had a life serving the Kings of his time and taking many trips to Florence for War and trading. He served many Kings and was even knighted himself for the translation of Romance of the Rose. It leaves evidence of his liking and respect for Christine de Pisan because he did not translate the parts of the poem, which would have offended her. In the Canterbury Tales, he writes about pilgrimages to Canterbury, which could have been related to his journeys to the Continent. He also had many other experiences, which could have affected his poetry and his style of poetry.

Geoffrey Chaucer grew up probably in London, England, where his parents were both wine merchants. His father served as a wine merchant for the King shortly after Chaucer was born. When Chaucer was in his adolescence, he became a junior page for the King. However, his parents were still working there, so the King probably thought he would be a good wine merchant, as it would have been passed down through generations of his family. From his parents being wine merchants, also, he learned a small bit of Italian, as it had been known for its wine and winemaking back then. This gave the King good reasons to send Chaucer on the expedition to Italy, which started the Italian period of his work. Finally because his parents were wine merchants, he probably went through lots of wine selling crowds, which was mentioned later in his poetry.

Chaucer's serving the King gave him the idea of writing the 'Book of the Duchesse' which was an elegy for the wife for John of Gaunt, who had died during the bubonic plague. He also pokes fun at the doctors who tried to treat people with the bubonic plague. This was because he experienced it and still survived to tell about it in his poems. It was the first of his major poetry works, but after his short poems, which were not as famous as the next ones.

The experience of having a child of his own gave him the idea to write the poem called The Treatise on the Astrolabe, which was dedicated to his son Lewis. Having children also gave him the idea for a few lines of poem that he would write later in life, but before the "Canterbury Tales.":

To me, it seems like he cared about children more than an average Englishman. He seems to take an interest in similes in these few lines, such as Suche briddes for to put in such a cage. It really describes their environment in an extreme way by saying that they were put in a cage.

Chaucer’s expeditions to Italy had a very big effect on his work. It started the Italian period for him in which he was inspired by major Italian poets such as Dante and Boccacio. In the "Canterbury Tales," he borrowed many different themes and ideas from their poetry. I read a few passages from the "Canterbury Tales" where he had borrowed ideas from the Italian poets and they were great compared to the parts where he was not inspired.

Geoffrey Chaucer definitely had a different life compared to other people of his time in my opinion. However, without the life, which he had, he would easily have died in the Bubonic Plague, he could have had his ransom not paid for, or he altogether would not have thought of the many different ideas and styles which appear in his poems. In fact, if Chaucer had not had his life, there may have never been poems in the English language. For those reasons, we people called him "The Father of English Poetry," which he deserves. That is why Chaucer had a life, which greatly affected English poetry and his works.